100 Blocks: Santa Fe Star, Giveaway!

Here’s a little background on the design process for my block. My preferred technique is foundation piecing. Unusual angles, straight lines and sharp points work well with foundations. With that in mind, I looked for inspiration in nature, in museums, in books, on the internet–virtually everywhere.

Perhaps it would be in a carpet design or tile. Check out these floor tiles.

I often start with geometric shapes–squares, triangles, diamonds or circles. Ice Crystal (block #122 from volume 2) and Whoopsy Daisy (block #417 from volume 5) started with circles that I dissected into sections.

Ice Crystal (block #122) started in a circle

Whoopsy Daisy (block #417) line drawing

The deadline for volume 7 was quickly closing in, and I still didn’t have a concrete idea for my design. Instead of “writer’s block,” I felt “quilter’s block.” (Or would that be “quilter’s block block?”)

As Carolyn mentioned in her blog post on Monday, inspiration can come when you least expect it. And that’s what happened for me. I was looking for an embroidery stitch on the internet when I spotted a feathered star design that looked a little something like this:

What caught my eye was the area where the points of two stars met. Instead of seeing just the stars, I saw Sawtooth points surrounding a diamond. I made a quick sketch and then drew this out in Electric Quilt 7.

The design had a southwestern look that appealed to me, so I colored it with turquoise, orange and brown. I printed out the foundations and rummaged through my batik scraps to make this version.

For block #615, I brightened it up using Timeless Treasure’s gorgeous Tonga Batiks. Aren’t they beautiful? That turquoise makes me drool!

Santa Fe Star block #615 by Eileen Fowler

If you don’t have your copy of 100 Blocks volume 7, here’s another chance to win it. Leave a comment below by midnight MST on Friday, May 24th telling me what colors you enjoy using the most in your quilts. (A quick look at your stash is a dead giveaway.)

The winner is Bonnie (comment #58)! Congratulations. Thank you to everyone who participated!

About Eileen Fowler

I am an Associate Editor at Quiltmaker. My quilting hobby, that began over 20 years ago, turned into a career when I was hired by Quiltmaker in 2008. My quilting passion is slowly taking over every nook and cranny in my house. I have a supportive husband who makes it all possible.